Canvas
by Echoing Fantasy
Summary: Drabble for CWKT. It was Takeshi that taught him to paint.


**AN: **Just like with HUHHDL, here's a drabble to celebrate CWKT reaching 50 reviews!

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_Canvas_

It was Takeshi that taught him to paint. After the boy came to live at the mansion with Tsuna and his other fathers, they spent some time getting to know one another. Granted, it was rather slow going for Tsuna, who had never met another child his own age before. Unsure how to act, he was perfectly content to let Takeshi point the conversation in a direction and let it go – usually he talked about swords or instruments, or growing up to be like his own father someday.

But one day, he talked about something his mother had taught him. Painting.

"She says its basically putting your emotions down on paper, only with colors instead of words! It's really neat!" Takeshi said as he dragged Tsuna along to the spare room Giotto and the others had furnished especially for them. The playroom was for them to stay in whenever the adults had "business" with other adults, although Tsuna usually used it just to stay away from everyone in general on days when he felt scared of something. There was just something about the room that was calming for him, although Takeshi claimed to notice no difference between the room and the rest of the home.

"S-so, you're going to teach me?" Tsuna asked as Takeshi picked up some big pieces of cloth and spread them around the floor around the stand with paper on it.

"Mm-hm! It's fun, trust me Tsuna. You might not think I see it, but you're always going off by yourself. Aren't you lonely?"

The brunette ducked his head. He hadn't thought anyone saw him sneaking away! "W-well, I'm not good with adults, a-and dad says this room is for us..."

Takeshi rolled his eyes. "Maa, maa Tsuna! You'll never get good with adults unless you _talk _to them! Trust me, they're just as scared of us as we are of them!" He laughed good-naturally, ignoring the scrunch of Tsuna's face that told him he wasn't sure that was quite right. "Okay, everything's ready! C'mon up!" And so saying he climbed up onto the piano stool G had set down for them and offered a hand for Tsuna to help him up.

Tsuna hesitated, but took the hand and climbed up. On the small desk beside the paper stood some cups of water, and a thin piece of wood with a hole in one side. It was this Takeshi grabbed and began squirting paints on, a little color on each part. None of them mingled or mixed (that was important, the boy told him) and after a few moments it was full of all the colors they needed. "Okay," Takeshi said," first you gotta pick what you want to paint." He looked to Tsuna.

"Eh? M-me? You want m-me to pick?" The boy floundered. Takeshi smiled encouragingly.

"Of course! This is gonna be your masterpiece, Tsuna! The canvas is your soul – you gotta add color to it to show who your are! At least that's what my mom says."

"Canvas?" Tsuna asked. Takeshi pointed at the paper.

"This is the canvas. You gotta change it every time you do a new picture, and give the old one time to dry and cement!"

"Oh, okay. Um... I don't really know what I want to paint, though." He was embarrassed, not even being able to do _this _properly. Especially after all the trouble Takeshi had gone through to show him this! He was sure to be angry.

But the other just grinned broadly. "It's okay! Not everyone knows what they want to paint right off, so here," he handed Tsuna the brush, which felt too long in his small hand, and the wood thing, which he was very careful about not spilling. "Just start painting whatever you want! If it feels right, you should definitely put it down!"

"E-even if its stupid?" Tsuna questioned quietly. Takeshi shook his head.

"Nothing is stupid here! Put down whatever you want, remember; the canvas is your soul." With that said, Takeshi hopped off the bench and began to leave the room. Tsuna panicked.

"W-w-where are you going? Aren't you going to stay?"

Takeshi shook his head. "Nope! Mom says artists need room to work, and if you're gonna be an artist, I gotta give you your space! I'll come back once you're done, okay? Take your time, and don't worry, Tsuna!" He gave the other boy a thumbs-up that somehow made the brunette feel better, and then left the room.

Tsuna sat there listening to Takeshi's footsteps get farther and farther away, and finally turned his attention back to the canvas in front of him. So much white space – what to do with it?

"_The canvas is your soul! You gotta add color to it to show who you are!"_

Swallowing, Tsuna looked down at his colors, and after a moment dipped his paintbrush in the blue before bringing it up to the very top of the canvas. If what his father said was true and he really was a Sky, then he needed to paint the image that had been in his head ever since Takeshi's arrival.

_The image of a rainy day, forever imprinted in my head. I want to draw it. I want to show them this is who Takeshi made me. I, who was once an empty Sky... I now have a rainstorm to shelter and show me the world..._

The rain came down thick that winter, and Tsuna got sick playing out in it, but Takeshi just laughed and crawled under the covers with him, and told him they could be sick together.


End file.
